pedal,pedal,pedal

To start again, keep moving forward!

2012-07-09T11:26:00.001-07:00

I just spent the last 4 hours writing a very cool story only to lose it all because of this dumb computer. I will have to rewrite it, but I can't spend another 4 hours doing it right now, sorry. Please enjoy the pictures for now!

~Luke

Overlook with the Big Wood River

Overlook with the Big Dummy

from the top of Mt. Bald

Salmon River

Camp

Top of the World....Er... The Truck?

Good View if that idiot wasn't in the way

Good view

Chairlift

Gondola view

Gondola ride Bro

The top of Galena pass


Sawtooths and valley

4th of July Camping along the Salmon River

overlooking the Sawtooth Range..WOW!

a little trout does the trick

Mikey fishing

Redfish Lake

awesome Breakfast @ the Bakery in Stanley

RedFish Lake & Me

Redfish Lake

Grouse? I prefer Chicken of the Woods

To the World!

2012-06-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

last year in WY, the Great Divide Basin

Well, I'm at it again. I quit my job, I am taking what money I have left, loading up my bike and I am hitting the road. Too long have I been cooped up like a bird in a cage. The open road calls me, and I am calling back. The need to see more of the world is too much for me to ignore. I don't have a set plan and I am leaving myself fully open to any opportunity. All I can say is about a plan is, I plan on moving forward.

HERE I COME!

Luke

where the water meets the road..

2011-03-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

Well everyone, we've made it. Actually we have been here since Friday the 4th.

I have many more stories to write about the past 55 days. I am going to share what I am feeling about our trip and its completion now. I will write more about our experiences from Silver City to San Diego later. Until then here is the account of our last days on the road.

Steve and I decided to put the hammer down and see how far we could ride in one day. We made it 125 miles from Brawley, CA to just outside San Diego. We baked in the Yuha and Anza-Borrego deserts. Started the day at 100 feet below sea level, and got as high as 4,000 feet. We rode downhill for miles, up hill for miles.We got close enough to the border fence to throw rocks into Mexico. We saw broccoli and lettuce fields the size of small cities. Watched the snow melt into the rivers, roaring down the mountain. Passed through some of the most fragrant mixed conifer forest. We made it down the mountain into the San Diego Metro area and we figured that was enough for the night. A hotel and shower were in order after the days work.

The next day our goal was to finish the last few miles, to make it to the Pacific, to run out of westward land!
Nothing had prepared us for the jaunt through San Diego to the beach. Lush and sweet smelling plant life abounds here, it is SPRING! The flowers are in bloom and everything is deep green! We came upon Ocean beach, the end of a 3000 mile journey and walked our bikes onto the beach. We had made it. Silence is all we could muster for a few minutes, while gazing at the surf. The people surrounding us, enjoying their Saturday at the beach, were our unaware welcoming committee. I think we both reflected on our personal accomplishments in our minds. The land had run out but our trip was still in full swing. We decided to explore the city. We found a hostel a block from the beach, right on the main strip, this place was by far the most internationally diverse collection we had come upon. People from every corner of the earth all under the same roof. Proof of how small yet vastly different the modern world is. The area around us was alive with celebration and good times; live music, skateboard competitions, a kite festival, surfing. The culture of Southern California was happening before us.

We exhausted our bodies traversing the last miles of our trip, but it was not for the sake of hurrying to finish or athletics. Instead it was a test of our ability to push the limits of our adventure, to achieve the feeling of pride for accomplishing something difficult, while experiencing pure beauty and blissful excitement of the journey simultaneously. It was time to relax for a moment and watch the sun set over the horizon.

We stayed at the hostel for only one night. The next day we set out to see all the corners of the city. We went downtown, uptown, back downtown, up to University Heights, down Point Loma, over to Hillcrest, through Balboa park, down to the Gaslamp district, across the bay on the ferry to Coronado, down the Strand to the Silver Strand State beach to end the day camping on the beach. Outside the tent door lay the bay and beyond that the San Diego Skyline, glowing in the night fog.

In the morning we walked the beach and then rode down the strand back to the mainland. We passed the port, seeing some very interesting things along the way, including aircraft carrier construction and cargo ships unloading the newest import cars from, wherever. The day is far from over and we will probably see much more, no part of San Diego is exempt from our curiosity. We leave tomorrow, on the train bound for St. Louis, another adventure.

We have transcended the social norm for comfort, and necessity along our journey. We feel almost out of place sleeping in a bed, it has become so normal to scout out a place to sleep in some "out of the way" field or back lot. Finding a place to eat, or fill water bottles has become the priority. The search for electrical outlets to charge our camera, computer, and phone has become a pastime. Too many hours spent off our bikes makes us feel uneasy, and anxious. Over time it became less about reaching the ocean and more about the experience of forging ahead. Seeing what the road ahead has to offer has become an addiction. We have become explorers.

It would not have been such an adventure without the support and kindness that so many people have bestowed upon us. Steve and I greatly appreciate all the help and encouragement we have received over the passed two months. The list is very long and it would not have been possible if any one of those people had not gone out of their way to help us along. This trip is dedicated to all those people, thank you for driving us toward our goal.

what happened to Steve and Luke?

2011-02-28T19:54:00.000-08:00

Hey people!

We have been pedal,pedal,pedaling. Sleeping in the middle of towns on land that belongs to um, someone. We wake up when the sun comes up, pack up, eat, ride. There is so much to talk about. When I wrote the last entry with writing, we were still in Texas. There really wasn't much to talk about for a few days. El Paso Texas is probably the ugliest city I have ever seen. I liked going through the parts of town where the hispanics live. Those areas are really Mexico, not the USA. Technically they are on our side of the border but thats where the ownership ends. From Del Rio to El Paso you don't need to speak anything but Spanish, and that is all you really hear, not English. I found it to be really cool. Riding near the border was neat, a little disconcerting but neat.

We came through Las Cruces, which is a college town, slept on some undeveloped commercially zoned land. We left the next morning. Things didn't get interesting till the day we were passing through Hatch, NM.
I have never seen wind like that day. We have been consistantly riding into headwinds since we started heading west, but the wind in the southwest on this day had something to prove to us. Gusts reaching 50 plus miles an hour with a pretty constant blow of 30 mph. When the wind would gust it would blow you right off the road, no matter the direction you steered. I was blown right off my bike once, put it in the ditch. We made it to Caballo Lake that day and happend to camp at the park there.....for FREE. The next day we road up over Emory Pass, the high point of the trip, 8,280 feet. The pass is classified as a category 1 climb, which in bike talk means the hardest climb out there. I thought it was a nice ride, and not that hard, until we got to the bottom of the mountain and saw another big hill. We had not eaten properly that day and I bonked on the hill after the mountain. It wasn't a big deal though we rode 60 miles. We camped on a pulloff next to the highway, next to some coyote chewed dear legs and a mystery skeleton.

That morning we rode to Silver City, NM. I AM IN LOVE WITH SILVER CITY!!!!! We just happened to pop into Gila Hike and Bike to see if they could help me with my rapidly disintigrating rear wheel hub. Well the mechanic there was top notch and he fixed it without saying much at all, and right away too. The wheel is still in perfect order to this day, which is a first. Thanks! Gila Hike and Bike is much more than just a good wrench though. Jay, Jack, and the mechanic who's name I can't remember(MIKE? SORRY), are among the most friendly people to ever own/run a bike shop. The shop is a combo of bikeshop and hiking outfitter, it's small and multipurpose, and appears to be stocked with only cool and useful items. In short, it is as close to perfect as possible. They hooked us up with a place to stay, which is a whole nother story. We even got free peanut butter. This peanut butter is not regular either, its super peanut butter, cinnamon and raisin swirl! From Peanut Butter and Co. I miss them..

Jay at Gila H&B told us about this guy Jaime's house. Jay said," just go over there, Jaime's not home, but he won't care." I was a little taken back by the proposition that we were to just show up at someone's house to stay without consent. However, I hadn't yet met Jaime Thomson! Before we left the shop a guy rode up and introduced himself as Ben, and said he was staying at the house that we were about to go to. I felt a little better about the prospect of showing up at The Bike House, as it were. Steve and I went over to the house and knocked on the door. A man opened the door, and I introduced myself. That man was Jaime, and he invited us in with little more than that. We talked a little about things, he inspected our bikes to confirm our entry. Jaime's house is full of eccentricities, paper mache puppets, bike sculptures, chickens, chard, and more bikes than a cycling team could ride. Among its residents were, Racer Ben, Baker Ben, Andrea the trailmaker, Andrew the theatre guru, and Jaime the propreitor of the eclectic mix. We were frequented by the super pleasant, energetic and friendly Cat.

Jaime opens his home to cyclists on a regular occasion, in fact there is a standing invitation to stay there, if your cool. I was glad to be considered for the invite, I loved this place! Baker Ben makes some of the best bread I ever had, sourdough. It's a passion for him, I appreciate it. He also has the coolest touring bike I have ever seen! Racer Ben is there to train, he's always riding or relaxing from a ride, I like his mellow nature, super cool guy(can't wait to ride with you Ben!). I don't really know what to say about Cat, except that she is great, etc.! I could really go on and on about these folks, but I will save it for later.

We wound up staying the next day in Silver City. The funny thing about it was that Steve and I kind of got into a funk, we were feeling anxious. I could sense the tension in him, probably because I was feeling it too. I said," let's got explore, get your bike!" We rode in no particular direction and found cool stuff around every corner. We rode up some old dirt road on and bombed down it at like 40 for a few miles. When we got back to the house our funk was cured! Funny to think that we were in need of a bike ride, considering we ride every day.

Silver is full of interesting people, it seems that everyone is more into doing their own thing, rather than following the leader. I didn't notice and "keeping up with the Joneses".The people there are full of character. Artists, bums, athletes, writers, etc., all of them coming together to form this interesting, off the beaten path, community.

I love Silver City, my future home!

no words, just look

2011-02-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

Big Bend Beauty part 3

2011-02-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

It was about a ten mile ride out of Alpine on flat road to the beginning of the Davis Mountains. We made quick time to the feet of the first craggy mass that was our introduction to the range. Once you reach the mountains they envelope you, and you begin to rise slowly into their center. The ascent is at first very mild, you almost don't realize that you are climbing. Every once in a while you have a small hill that pushes you up quickly. The town of Fort Davis sits fairly in the middle of the range nestled high and protected in the midst of the peaks. The town is quaint and charming, the perfect little mountain town. I found it very nicely kept, and bustling with the days affairs. We had some homemade pizza from a place that had an Osage Orange tree growing through the middle of the dining room and right through the roof. After lunch we hit the road again. Stopping only to talk to the owners of the coolest RV I have ever seen. They were German and they were exploring the entire North American Continent apparently. Something had broken on their rig and they were waiting on a part.

Not until you come out into an open meadow, where you can see Mt.Locke and the McDonald observatory, do you see the switchbacks that lay ahead. The high grassy meadow in the foreground and the white domes of the telescopes high in the background. Steve and I were having fun. The climbing was a great, tiring process that made you "taste your lungs" as Frank put it. The effort we put into the climb was almost a treat compared to the damning headwinds of the days before. We made it to the observatory after a few stops to catch our lowlander lungs from panting out of our chests. Both of us were awestruck by the view and beauty. The fees at the observatory were a little extravagant, so we decided to pass on the viewing. The moon was really bright that night anyway so I didn't feel to disappointed. That point aside I was out there under the stars just like everyone else I just didn't have a close up view like they did. That night we stayed at a little picnic area deep in the middle of the mountains and free range cattle ground. We spent the night in complete and utter solitude. Coyotes were the only thing to break the silence. The next morning we broke camp and went hiking on a nearby trail. It was a nice change of pace for a while. We made it off the trail and had to hop directly on the bikes to make it to the next town of Van Horn.

Not much to say about Van Horn except that it is full of motels. We camped at a truck stop behind the Mcdonalds, it was kind of funny setting up a tent amidst the big trucks.

Thats all for now, its bed time!

Big Bend Beauty Part 2

2011-02-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

The next town after the Pecos river was Langtry. The famous, or maybe not so much, Judge Roy Bean founded the town back in the late 1800's and named it after an actress, Lillie Langtry. He dreamt of having her stay in the town, she made it after he was dead. The Judge was more well known for his cowboy form of the law he called "the Law West of the Pecos". He was also the proprietor of the town bar, pool hall, theater, and entertainment such as boxing.(which is was apparently illegal in Texas during his time). His original building still stands. They have made a visitor's center around where it still stands. Steve and I went for a look, it was interesting to see. They also had a fairly extensive cactus garden which I particularly enjoyed. We spent a while there, filled our water bottles and headed on down the road.

Passing through this part of the country can be likened to passing through a constant painting. The vastness of the land, the movement of the sun from your back to your face, the hours that it takes to pass by "that mountain". You pass the moments thinking about how you are tired, hungry, and completely awestruck by each little thing. Then you are brought back to the Earth when you enter a town, at least the version of Earth we are used to. When you travel off of the beaten path, the places you come to are by nature less traveled. Most places have some form of the services we are used to in urban or suburban life, except in less quantity, it is more of a "take what you can get" rather than "which one do I want" situation.

We came upon the town via a narrowing passage between mountain bases. Sanderson is tightly nestled in the valley between those mountains. The town looks like it has seen better times, or at least more fruitful ones. Empty storefronts abound as do derelict houses and neglected landscaping. As we entered there was a little motel on the right side of the road. I looked over and saw a little man running toward us from a distance waving his hands in the air. He was the person working at the motel, he asked us to stay at his motel and take a picture outside with him. He kept a picture album of all the riders that pass through Sanderson on their trek to either coast. He told us that it was his dream to ride a bicycle the way that he has seen us and so many others before. He was Indian, aged somewhere in his fifties. I asked why he doesn't do it, his only reply was that he had to run the motel. I accepted his reasoning, only so not to pry in his business. We talked pricing for a room for a moment. We didn't have the money to spend on a room so he offered to let us camp on the motel property and a free shower. I felt for this man, he was kind and genuine in his reasoning for wanting us to stay at his motel. I had every intention of staying there and taking him up on the offer.Unfortunately we didn't. I was disappointed to not take him up on his offer and maybe share a little more of our experience with him. How were we supposed to know that we were going to run into the likes of Aaron Roux and company.

Steve and I were particularly hungry so we found the only restaurant in Sanderson. We pulled up to the little place with rumbling stomachs. Much to our surprise, some bikes were parked outside. In these parts bikes of that type only mean one thing, travelers. Just as we were about to walk in, out came a trio, recently filled and a little less weary. We saw each other, and instantly became friends. We started trading the facts of our journey, but time was wearing thin for ordering at the cafe. They invited us over to their campsite after we got some grub to continue the conversation and to knock back a few. It turns out that they are on their own journey to cross the US from west to east. Crossing the US on your own power is no ordinary thing. Aaron however is taking that to the next level. He rides a handcycle due to his inability to use his legs. When Aaron completes his journey he will be the first quadrapalegic to have done so. Aaron, Jeff and Aaron's dad Lenny. Aaron and Jeff do the riding and Lenny pulls the RV. Back at the RV Lenny, gave us a few bud light's while we traded stories. We talked for too long, and went to bed late, but it was worth it. They invited us to camp by there RV and to breakfast in the morning. How could we resist such an offer? In the morning we ate a breakfast prepared by Lenny and Aaron in the RV. I was in heaven and to top it off the guys gave us a care package filled with all kinds of goodies. Ultimately we had to part, for we have a country to cross. Crossing paths with Aaron was a reminder of how much of a good time we are having, and an inspiration to complain a lot less. So we headed to Marathon, and they toward Langtry.

Marathon is the last chance town before entering the Big Bend National Park. It's a small town of not more than 500 people. Despite it's small size it is filled with a certain unexplainable charm. The last frontier before the wild beyond of 800,000 plus acres. There is a hostel/community in Marathon called La Loma del Chivo.

papercrete. These buildings are half practical half artwork. They are sustainable and beautiful. The collection of people are no less intersting either. Best of all Cross country cyclists stay for FREE! Steve and I had a great time and really enjoyed staying in the hostel building. We hung out a little the next morning just to get to know the people, and cook bacon and eggs. We left around noon for Alpine.

a man and his bus in Marathon. I enjoyed talking with him

Alpine is the largest town we had been in since Del Rio. It was a welcome sight because I need a part for my bike and we were hungry! While we were looking for the bike shop a man pulled up in a old Mercedes Diesel. He introduced himself and then asked if we needed help. His name is Frank, and what a swell guy. He directed us to the bike shop, but before he left he told us that we could stay at his house for the night. He gave us his address and told us to come over after we had taken care of our business in town. Of course we accepted his offer. When we pulled up to his house, he gave us the tour. Frank is a diesel mechanic with a soft spot for old Mercedes diesels. I can't blame him they are beautiful and charismatic cars. He has quite the collection, which we both enjoyed touring. Frank also is a cyclist, and an enthusiastic one at that, we talked for a long time about many aspects of cycling, adventuring and cars. Basically, he is right up our alley.
I mostly enjoyed his upbeat attitude, and constant happy demeanor. His lovely wife Lana even fixed us burritos, and breakfast! It gets better, the part I had gotten at the bike shop wouldn't work on my bike, so Frank called up one of his friends and got the correct part for me! We got showers and nice beds to sleep in. This man is one of the friendliest people I have ever met. We even got a stash of his homemade cinnamon rolls before we left. I sure hope I make it back to Alpine to visit again. I think I might have to stop back by when I come down to visit Big Bend NP since we can't afford the time to see it now.

Luke, Steve, Ruby(car), and Frank!

As much as I loved Alpine and staying with Frank, we had to head off for the Davis Mountains. Frank had given us a prelude to the mountain road the night before, so we kind of knew what to expect, terrain wise. However, I could not have expected the beauty that was layed before us.

The rest of this story will have to wait until next time, in Big Bend Beauty part 3. We have to be going on now.

Big Bend Beauty

2011-02-17T06:55:00.000-08:00

I left you all in Del Rio, along with my cell phone. The road has provided us with so much awe inspiring spectacularity, that I almost forgot about the blog. Kidding aside, I actually had become a little lost in my surroundings. Horizon for so many miles that it may rival the Montana sky at times. The Chihuahuan Desert, the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Pecos, The Davis, Glass and Del Norte mountains. I never knew that such beauty existed in Texas.

From Del Rio we passed through the Lake Amistad reservoir. The lake is a big weekend retreat for anglers from many miles around. Amistad was created by damming the Rio Grande river. It is pretty but it looks unnatural for the surrounding Landscape. We passed the lake, but not after an inspection of is banks off of the bikes.

A few miles down the road, we came across our first Immigration Check Point. These checkpoints make use of all kinds of Border Patrol implements; dogs, xray, infrared, automatic weaponry, and the ever present Patrolmen. When you pull up to the checkpoint, they scan your vehicle and then ask if you are a US citizen. If you are not , then you had better have a good excuse, or its off to the detention center for you. Truth be told, the patrolmen have a tough and dangerous job. However, it seems they always have time to be courteous and friendly, at least to us. We made it through.

Our intention was to stay at the Seminole Canyon State Park. As we pulled in to the park, which has been touted as one of the places we needed to stop, I began to have doubts about us staying. Along the road on each side as you come in, they have posted signs explaining all the things you can't do while in the park. I discovered that it would cost us 3 dollars each to just enter the park, and in addition, 12 dollars for a primitive camp site. Well, I am not about to pay that much for a little bit of land for a few hours, so I went inside to see if I could negotiate. Inside I was told that no primitive campsites were available, and that I would have to pay 17 dollars for an extra special site, with bells and whistles I guess. I walked out in disgust. We got out of there before anyone charged us for breathing state park air.

That was a great decision, it turns out. A few miles past the State Park we found a picnic area perched high above the Pecos River, almost at the confluence of the Rio Grande. What a view! We hung out for a while, enjoyed the view and ate dinner, while we waited for the sun to set. A man came by at some point to experience the view, and left us with some food for the road, how awesome. Well the sun went down and we watched it disappear into the ground, leaving possibly the largest piece of sky I have ever seen. The next morning we watched the sun come up over the other side of the world, and I came to the conclusion that this was the best place I have ever witnessed the interactions between the sun and the horizon. We left shortly thereafter to cross the Pecos and head on our journey. The bridge that crosses the Pecos is the highest in Texas, 273 feet above the water. We made sure to stay away from the edge, for fear of being blown over it.

Thats all for now!

Texas, the largest place, ever....

2011-02-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here we are in Texas again. crossing this state is proving most difficult. The weather, wind, and terrain vary so much and you get them a wicked combination of those factors sometime. We left Sisterdale and the weather was pretty nice, we made fair headway. Then out of the blue the hill country started kicking our butts. These hills are BIG, and guess what, the road goes right over the top of them. Climbing isn't really that bad, it takes a lot of effort, but I really like the reward of going down the other side. Riding these roads is very rewarding period. Around every bend is a beautiful scene or some interesting contraption of Texan minds.

The land out here is mainly all ranches. Thousands of acres each, and butted right next to each other. Most of these places have large grand gates proclaiming the ranch's namesake for making sure that you know where you are about to enter. Many of the ranches raise cattle, sheep, goats, deer and exotics like Impala. We stop from time to time to figure out what kind of animal is out on the prarie. The animals run around between the prickly pear cactus, the mesquite, juniper, and a smattering of live oaks. The beauty of this area is profound, even though we are here in the winter.

Armadillos are like squirrels down here, except they don't really concern themselves with humans. We have walked right up to them and they don't even mind, we've even yelled at them,"ARMADILLOOOO". they don't care and if they do decide to run, it is only after contemplating the action for more than a few moments.

Well I have more to write but I really have to pedal on so see you next time..

West Texas Wind and Winding

2011-02-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Leaving Austin was bittersweet, not only because it is such a cool place, but we met some great people(Mike) and I don't really want to ride in the cold. Speaking of the cold, why the hell is it so cold down here, we are practically in Mexico, it is not supposed to be 20 degrees here. The whole reason for us riding through down here is to be warm. Doesn't the air above Texas know that?

It is strange how Austin appears to be the border between temperate climate East Texas and semi arid West Texas, as we left the city the landscape changed almost immediately. West Austin is apparently where all the rich people live, we saw houses that compare to the size of malls, and several Ferraris within minutes of each other. Looking out across the land, it looks more like Southern California rather than what we were used to seeing in Texas.

We rode only about 20 miles the day we left Austin, partly because we left at about 2pm and partly because it was so hilly and cold. That night, just as it was getting dark ,we saw a RV park so we decided to see if we could camp there. The man who owns the place said it would be no problem for us to pitch our tent behind his house, and he didn't even charge us. He warned that they didn't have any water due to the temperatures freezing all the waterlines, and that snow was coming. Now we are prepared for such temperature and precipitation, but we still found it a little demoralizing. We wasted no time setting up and getting in the tent. I read for a few hours which was nice, and then I heard the snow start to hit the tent roof. I woke a few times through the night to find it was still snowing and had to knock the snow off the tent to avoid making the tent sag.

The next morning, we got up late because we had no reason to ride in the snow during morning rush hour.

By this time the snow was already beginning to melt, so we packed up and started down the road to find some food. Finding food proved harder than I thought it was going to be because the snow kept all the people who cook food in the whole area at home. We settled for some apples and pot pies from a quick shop.

That day we rode until we came upon a picnic area where we decided to camp for the night. We were sick of riding in the wind and tired of being hassled by the temperatures. It was a beautiful spot with a view.

The part of Texas we are in right now is called Hill Country, and that is no exaggeration. It is HILLY!

Combining the hills with the weight of our gear and the headwinds all day makes riding a determined milage pretty difficult. The beauty of the area makes up for its hardships in traveling, and at least we are making forward progress. The weather has been nicer for the past two days and that helps.

Yesterday we rode through a town with a neat little bakery called The Deutsch Apple. They were serving Kolaches, which is some kind of pastry that all of Texas is in love with. They were delicious and the place was pretty neat. You can order their pies and they will ship anywhere in the Continental US. We rode some more and came upon this place that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere called HillBilly's. It turned out to be a BBQ place and Saloon, I think it was the local biker and hotrodder hang out, they proprietor Billy was kind, and even though he didn't have any food ready he sold us some of his personal deer sausage stash to tide us over until we found a proper meal.

That is when we rode into Sisterdale. Sisterdale is a small town made up of the buildings on each side of one road. In other words it is small. We stopped here to eat at a little hamburger stand, but we wound up staying, and having a great time. The Sisterdale Trading Company and Saloon attracted me like iron to a magnet. Basically a watering hole for the locals and ranchers, it was a welcoming place. The barkeep Brian didn't let us pay for a thing and we drank the night away talking with all sorts of people. It is amazing the stories we were told from such a small crowd within a short time. As it turns out Brian is a fellow Missourian, another man was back from Hawaii and a 30 year vacation, Willie had been shot in the head, right between the eyes and lived to wear the scar and tell the story, and Andrew has been to China so many times I find it hard to believe he isn't Chinese himself. Brian showed us the dance hall across the street and the fort that was built before it where settlers fought of attacking Commanches. For being such a small place it was full of interest.

Thank you to all in Sisterdale that showed us such a great time and kindness!

Well we've got to be on our way!

awesome in Austin

2011-02-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

Well we have made it to Austin finally. The road to this city has been long, and we have been excited to get here for some time now, the first big city we have been to since Memphis. We have dealt with head winds every day since we started heading west. Showers have been scarce, we went a whole week without one, which wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't sweating all day every day. By the time we made it to Giddings Texas we had enough, so we decided to get a room and take a shower, for fear of staff infections. We slept behind a filling station somewhere along hwy 105 under a tree without our tent until 3am, when it started to rain. The fact that we can come so close to being complete hobo dirtbags, then a few days later be living the good life in a great city, really drives home the wonder and appreciation for life and all the great things life can bring, if you let it. The perspective from which Steve and I are seeing the country ,and the people in it, awakens a newfound faith in humanity and all things that surround us in the world. Riding down the road we find pleasure in the "neat tree over there"or mooing at cows as we pass and they stare. People are interested in our journey, and many of the people we have talked to have found what we are doing to be inspiring. They tell us that we have pushed them toward starting their own adventure. I never intended to have such an effect on anyone, I just wanted to try and do something fun and worthwhile to me. Sometimes the trip is miserable, but those times make the good ones that much better and the positive feedback we get from everyone we meet is an added bonus. We are having a great time and we are helping people chase dreams at the same time, it doesn't get better than that.

this is a rolling bike sculpture that multiple people ride, its a rattlesnake

Austin is alive! People are riding bikes everywhere, there is live music everywhere, the food is great! I never knew this city was such a great place.

We went to the Texas capitol today. This building is magnificent! Lots of politics going on, so we didn't stay long, for fear of being swindled.

We also made it to Mellow Johnny's, which if you didn't know is Lance Armstrong's bike shop. They have a training center, showers, and coffee. MJ's is by far the coolest bike shop I have ever seen. If you work downtown you can commute by bike, drop off your bike, take a shower and then head to work.

a neat tree

We are off to explore some more!

Under the Texan sun, with full bellies...

2011-01-29T17:03:00.000-08:00

Despite all of Louisiana's charm, Steve and I decided to cross the border into Texas. We both anticipated Texas to have better food than Louisiana had to offer. I'll admit we didn't have any Cajun food, but we really couldn't find anything other than deep fried...whatever. They seem to deep fry everything, it gets old.
Luck was on our side because just past the border into Texas in Bon Wier there was a gold mine of good eating, Three Flags Restaurant! The place looks like any other side of the road in logging country place would look. The paring lot had semis all around and there was no pavement. The food on the other hand, was down home as it could get. Both of us had breakfast and it was HUGE. Three eggs, real hashbrowns, two pancakes, bacon, homemade biscuits, all of which were delicious.
Of course, while we were there the local patrons made their inquiries known to us. I told them about what we were doing and where we were from, etc. One of the men there offered to put us out on his property, and as usual we couldn't refuse. We loaded our bikes up in a truck and off we went to his property. They dropped us off and told us to make ourselves home, so we set up our tent and did just that. He also warned us that there was a mountain lion around there but it shouldn't bother us, it usually keeps its distance. I kept my ears open for movements off in the woods, but I never heard or saw him.
We got up before the sun and started putting our things away, cooked breakfast and were just about to leave when a little half squirrel half dog came up and started scurrying around, we made friends but probably shouldn't have because he wanted to come with us now. The little guy was only a few pounds, but he sure could run. We tried to out run him but he just kept gaining on us. I eventually had to yell at him and throw rocks to get him to stay put. That kind of made me sad because he was a cool little guy and I would have preferred to remain friends. In hindsight I should've taken him along, he wouldn't have eaten much.
Lunch time was coming around and we happened upon a place in Kirbyville called Janice's Dinner Bell. This sounded appetizing, plus the place had board and batten siding,(among my favorite exterior wall sheathing). Janice had prepared a nice spread on the steam table, I told her I didn't even need to see the menu. On the table was: Enchilada casserole, chicken tenders(fresh not frozen), rice, field peas, mustard greens, fried orkra, pinto beans, gravy, biscuits, and cobbler for dessert. I had a little of everything, and again, delicious, Thats 2 for 2 in Texas!

We headed for Silsbee, we actually found internet at a Mcdonald's( my internet place of choice it seems) and I got a chance to update the blog for the first time in a few days. It took me until dark to finish the post, and we still hadn't found a place to stay. Steve and I have developed a technique ,however, it goes like this. We ride until we make a resonable destination then we eat and wait for darkness to fall. Sometimes, someone will offer us a place to stay, which is nice, or we sneak off in the dark to find some wooded area to set up in. The trick with the latter is that it has to be someplace where no one is going to be walking around, and we have to be out of there by daybreak. It has always worked so far and if we keep our guidlines, it always should. ANYWAY, in Silsbee we rode down this side road for about a hundred yards and I saw it, a strip of young Ponderosa Pines. so we snuck into the woods. To our surprise it was only 20 feet deep and on the other side was a strip of mowed grass before the real woods started. Perfectly secluded from the eyes of passerby's we set up our tent and went to sleep.

The next day we rode for the Sam Houston National forest. We found another gem of an eatery in Rye, TX, Rye is basically and intersection of two country roads so it was another welcome sight. Lona's Cookie Jar Cafe is another example of down home cooking. The cook was none other than Grandma Lona herself. Pepper steak, pintos, and home made slaw with raisins and apple in it, followed by banana cream pie. OH, how Texan country folk can cook! We had to have another course to fill our appetites so we ordered again, and it was equally as good. I spoke with her husband for a while and he told me about his travels. He had some really good stories and he recommended a few places to make sure and stop on our journey out west. I trust that his opinions are accurate and I can hardly wait to see some of these sights.

We made it to the Double Lake Rec. area in Sam Houston N.F. just after dark, only to find out that the camping fees were extortive, it cost 18 dollars per night to camp. I was staggered by this, but we really had no choice, so we paid. To make matters worse, the showers were cold, there was NO firewood, and the raccoons are NOT afraid of people. I got out of the tent to run them off probably 20 times that night. We moved all the food that they hadn't gotten into over to the tent and they still came. I beat them with a stick and they would just retreat up a tree for a moment and return just as I was laying down again. I could have killed these little robbers, I got almost no sleep last night because of them. They were brave little rats, I will give them that, I mean I physically beat them and it didn't even phase them, they were determined.

We left this morning to get closer to Austin, I can hardly wait to get there but first we eat! I don't know the name of this establishment but the proprietor is Rick and that giant smoking gun in the yard is an actual barbeque pit. This guy can BBQ let me tell you! Great coffee too!
We got off the bike route today because the "bike route" was likely to get us killed. We found a less threatening way, and I think it was likely just as pretty. Lake Conroe looks like a oceanside paradise, except that it is 100 miles off the coast. I recommend it. Texas is proving to be hard to cross due to its size, we are still over 100 miles away from Austin, but we are going to attack that mileage with a vengance in the morning

some sweet donkey's the one on the right is tiny!

Flat, wet, and friendly.

2011-01-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

The motel we stayed at in Natchez was okay, but they were about an hour and a half late with breakfast, and to top that off I discovered that Steve's bike had a FLAT. Having a flat is always disappointing but it was the first one of the trip, so not to bad, 700 miles without one.

We rode through Natchez on the way to cross the Mississippi, this city is nice! Crossing the bridge was pretty scary but we made it. Once we hit it there was no stopping. As soon as we hit Louisiana we took a picture.

Our route to Simmsport was along the levee on hwy 15.I figured it would be an easy and scenic route. I was only half right, it was very scenic, but not easy at all. We got about 5 miles from
Natchez and Steves rear tire was flat again! We pulled over to fix it I thought we had gotten all the glass out of the tire but there was still some deep in there. After we got that one fixed
we headed on, only to find that he was flat again. This time we pulled onto the levee, this time we found the real culprit, a piece of wire from the steel belting in car tires. Once flat number
three was fixed we decided to ride on the levee, it was nice.

The wind out here was blowing pretty fiercely into our faces, so we weren't going very fast, but we were making forward progress anyway. I would look down at my bike computer to see how far we had gone since the last time I looked, only to be disappointed.
Matters only got worse when we realized that we were almost out of food to eat while riding. This fact was compounded by the complete desolation of this road. For 70 miles there was absolutely nothing, I mean NOTHING, as far as human influence or modern improvements. Basically we were going to starve until we found any place where we could get food. This is what kept us going, and not much else. We could have cooked something but that would have meant sacrificing drinking water. I will have to keep this experience in mind for when we cross west Texas. Nevertheless we made it to Simmesport at about 8pm with little more damage than being very hungry and tired. I stopped at the very first place I saw that would have food and stuffed my face with cookies! Now it was time to find lodging or a campsite.We only made it about 500 feet before I saw a place that served real(relatively) food, and we ate again! About 200 feet later, a motel, perfect, but no wifi, so no blogging. I am under the belief that Louisiana doesn't know about wifi, explaining why it has been so long since I have made an update.

In the morning we took our time getting out of the motel, washed clothes, slept in, you know?

At about 2pm we were on the road in the rain. We made in to a little

town called Lebeau, which pretty much only constists of a Restaurant/gas station/grocery. Steve and I rarely pass up the opporitunity to eat, so we went in. The place was cool.

They had lots of interesting things for sale, and on display, a mounted alligator,an alligator gar, elk, and my favorite!, the 135 pound snapping turtle! This ones for you Hank!

the alligator gar is in front of the alligators mouth by the bobcat

That turtles head is bigger than mine, and it could easily have bit off my leg, had it been alive.

We ate a pizza and then hung out for a while to dry out because we were soaked from the rain. While we sat there many people came over to talk to us and we shared stories. Steve said that the owner told him that we could pop our tent up outside the building. I was shocked really, this goes against all the social norms that I am used to. If I popped a tent up in St.Louis, next to a restaurant, the owners would have me arrested. To make it even more amazing the police chief said that he would have a deputy drive by every once in a while to check on us. So we put up our tent and it was nice!

Breakfast was served by 6:30 the next morning and we got a discount! To all the people we met at Stelly's, Thank you!

We left Lebeau for Opelousas, to hopefully find a bike shop to get more inner tubes, since Steve depleted our stock. We found a little place but he only had tubes that would work
for my bike, I bought one even that we each had at least one spare. A few miles down the road out of Opelousas I felt my rear tire getting squishy,I had a flat, 10 minutes after I
bought a new tube. Oh well, I ran over too much glass I guess because thats what it was, beer bottle glass. That makes 4 flats for the trip, and all four were in Louisiana.

Everyone around here has crawfish ponds. Basically they are rice fields that they set traps in to catch crawfish, some people farm them, but it seems that every house we passed had flooded part of their yard to raise crawfish

On the way to Oberlin, we went through Mamou, which apparently is the Cajun Music capitol of the world. You wouldn't know it, there is little to denote the significance except for a sign.
They also are supposted to have one hell of a Mardi Gras celebration. We didn't stay we had places to be!
We rolled into Oberlin as the sun was setting. Waiting on the side of the road was a man named Tim he owned the carwash and laundrymat at the edge of town. He told us we could stay on his property, or even in the building. We accepted graciously, but before we set up camp we decided to check out the town, basically to get snacks and scope out a spot for breakfast. While at the quick shop a man pulled up and asked us where we were staying. We told him our plans, and he offered to put us up in the firehouse. Well who could refuse that offer. We followed him to the firehouse and we met all the firemen, including Chief Kelly. They showed us around and then everyone left. That's right they left us in the firehouse alone all night. I was really surprised by this obviously, the trust that they put in us was staggering. Chief Kelly is a sweet and caring man and it shows in his actions. We had tv, showers, all the amenities of a hotel, but for free! We were just a few in the long list of cyclists that have stayed in the Allen parish district 5 main firehouse. I enjoyed talking with the Chief and wish we could have spent more time with him.

We left for Texas from Oberlin in the morning, the ride was good, more to come soon.

who needs kick stands?

sunshine on the countryside

2011-01-23T05:28:00.000-08:00

I opened the door Friday morning to find the sun shining and the wind blowing to the south. This was a welcome sight considering what we had to deal with on Thursday. We got on the road and were traveling quickly with the wind behind us. Highway 61 at this point only has mild traffic but a lot of it is semi truck grain haulers. Being passed by these trucks can leave your head spinning so to keep our heads on straight we have to get off the road every time one passes, which can be frustrating. However, it is better than being run over. Regardless of these constant setbacks we made it to Vicksburg in time.

Vicksburg is a neat town situated on a fairly steep hill by the Mississippi, the history of this town is apparent. There was a fort there that was built in 1790 AND it still has cannons guarding the spot where it was, pretty neat. They have a port with big river boats and casinos, which is par for the course for every other town in Mississippi near the river. We ate at a very cool restaurant called Duff's in downtown Vicksburg, it was pretty good and I got overly stuffed, Then we found a coffee shop called 61 coffee down the street and hung out there while we came up with a plan of what to do for the night. In the end we left Vicksburg for the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Natchez Trace Parkway is essentially a national park that runs along a scenic roadway from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS, it might be one of the most beautiful roadways in existence. We arrived at Rocky Springs campsite along the NTP and set up camp sometime after dark. We ate duck roasted over our open fire, and beans. Then went to sleep, to rise early and head into Natchez.

In the morning we talked to a man who was traveling from his hometown of Toronto, Canada to Texas, the same as he does every year. He had a pretty neat solar panel set up on his trailer and had fabricated fairings to improve his fuel mileage.

We started riding and it was pretty nice outside and the riding was good. It was so nice that we had to stop and enjoy the beauty of the area. I played some music on the guitar. Things are good.....

Th NTP is beautiful and doesn't have much traffic, but it does have hills. These hills aren't very steep but they go on for miles. I climbed a hill today that was a little over four miles long. This kind of terrain can make for a long day, which it did. Nevertheless, we made it into Natchez, which is a great town. It is very clean and there are lots of well kept and nice homes, many of which are on the National Historic Registry. The reason I know this is because they all proudly display the fact on signs in front of there homes. Many of these homes are over a 180 years old!

Tomorrow its Louisiana time!

Where's the way out!?

2011-01-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

I am beginning to believe that Lake Washington wanted us to stay. After we left the Burdine's place, about 20 minutes later, it clouded up and began to sprinkle rain. The sprinkle turned into a sideways deluge of sleet and wind. Even the storm chasers were out. We rode about 15 miles in some of the worst weather I can imagine, cold windy rain, it felt like we were stuck in a hurricane. By the time we made it to Rolling Fork we had been beaten up by the weather. I was soaked, and so was Steve. We decided to hurry and find a room before we got sick, or worse. The first thing we did was shed the wet clothes and take turns soaking up hot shower water.We wound up staying in the room and only emerging to get food, other than that we were shut in, I didn't even look out the window. I decided to write and lay in bed instead. The wind whipped at our door and the lights flickered like the power was going to go out. I didn't care if it did or not I was just glad to be dry.

Delta Delight!

2011-01-20T19:03:00.000-08:00

Boy do I have a story to tell you folks!

On the way out of Greenville and to Vicksburg we rode by a beautiful lake called Lake Washington. We were marveling at all the nice properties and houses along the road, including the Linden Plantation, which is where President Teddy Roosevelt used to stay when he came to hunt Mississippi's apparently vast array of wildlife. Taking pictures of our surroundings seemed more important than heading down the road. Just about the time we got going again a man pulled up alongside us and asked us where we were headed and where we were from.
We talked for a moment and he wished us well then he drove on. A little way down the road I saw him backing down the lane. As he pulled up he got out of his truck and gave us a couple of duck feathers from some ducks that I believe they had taken earlier sometime. He told us the ducks migrate from the north to this area for the winter, and like the ducks, so have we. I was excited to get the them because I had been on the lookout for feathers as we have been traveling, and I could add them to my collection. He also handed us a couple of beers for whenever we got to our next stop. This was also exciting because we had been pining for some beer for a while but we just couldn't spend the money on it. We exchanged names, information and took pictures then parted ways for the second time. That is how we met Matthew Burdine.

A little further down the road we see him driving back toward us and he stopped again and told us he just had to invite us over to his farm to stay for the evening and eat. The daylight hours were becoming slim and we had already gone 70 miles that day, so we accepted the invitation. Who could pass up such an opportunity anyway, this is an adventure we're on, right? He told us where to go, and we rode to his place on the other side of the lake. We arrived just as the night was rolling in and were welcomed warmly. There little place on the earth was like a little Eden. They have a nice spread of land of around 500 acres of Mississippi Delta black earth. On it, is a barn and shop that doubles as living quarters, a beautiful old Avion RV trailer. They keep a few horses a little donkey and some good birding dogs. Their place reminds me of what I have dreamt of having for myself and I found it to be a comfortable and inspiring home. Our introduction to Matt's father Hank left me very impressed, they obviously have a healthy respect for each other and are as kind and intelligent as a couple of people could be. We were introduced to a few of Matt's pals Chuck, and Eustace, who were equally pleasant. We sat around the fire and contemplated things over brews and snacks. I was told many stories about the area, including Hank's endeavors in building roads and levees, how they had taken areas of their own land and made them into habitats for the migratory ducks and other wildlife in an effort to restore some of the wetland area. I was told of the area's rich and deep history, in which all present seemed to be very knowledgeable and proud. Stories of moonshiners, President Roosevelt, hunting, farming and many other aspects of southern life. These people seemed immersed in the aspects of life that are most important, it doesn't appear that they have missed any of the small and most meaningful moments around them or pass up an opportunity to be hospitable cordial and true Southern Gentlemen.
Hank fixed us a large dinner including spaghetti with venison, salad, and red wine! PERFECT! Hank's prayer was beautiful and heartfelt. We were encouraged to eat heartily, which we did readily,there was enough for third helpings to top it off! We were invited to go duck hunting the next morning. I had never been on such an excursion and neither had Steve, so we were pretty excited. Matt instructed me to dream of ducks that night, for in the morning there was to be a reckoning, resounded in bellows from 12 gauge shells.

That night, I dreamt that we were laying in a thicket and ducks were flying down and landing on my head. I reported my recollections of dreamland the next morning and this was seen as a good sign. Matt hooked us up with some camouflage gear and wader boots, and we headed out to the gallery in the dark before first light. We waited there for the ducks to come, and sure enough you could hear them cooing as they flew over in the dark. We waited until the proper time to start harvesting, but it was barely light enough to see before the first shots were fired. It was a great morning and the ducks wanted to be where we were despite the demise of there brethren. It was a sight to behold, and in barely an hour they had shot their limit. The hunt was a success, and all Hank's dreaming and hard work in building a habitat that ducks found worthy had payed off well! I was glad for this and for all the men that got to partake in the hunt, including myself.

Ducks are among some of the most beautiful creatures I have seen, they have such plentiful color and grace.

We took our bounty back to the farm shop and first had breakfast, again delicious, then went about preparing to leave. In the meantime Matt showed us how to clean a duck, which we both found very interesting. We reveled about the morning's hunt and snapped photos. We were given many gifts before we left, including our own duck calls, and a half dozen breasts from the mornings kill. Eventually though we had to fly on and continue south, for like the ducks we have a journey to tend to. We said our "see you later's" because I reckon that I will definitely be back to The Burdine's little Eden to visit and reap the benefits of good company and the fat of the land.

Thank you fellas it truly was a great experience, and I will always regard the Mississippi Delta highly and I look forward to seeing you all again! Time to fly!

water logged

2011-01-19T11:39:00.000-08:00

We left Memphis on Monday morning in the rain. It wasn't really that bad until we got to into Mississippi and we figured out that riding down HWY 61 was impossible. Luckily, we ran into a county sherriff and he told us a back way into Tunica. That route was way better, unfortunately it was slow going and we ran into the night. We made it about 90 miles south of Memphis and had to stop because we were exhausted to the point of hallucination. We picked a stand of trees between two cotton fields and step up our tent to sleep. We were both happy to lay down.

In the morning we packed up and rode the rest of the way into Rosedale. There was a little restaurant there called the Blue Levee. from the outside it looked pretty questionable at best, but we were desperate. when I walked inside I was surprised to find it was a pretty nice place, and the food was DELICIOUS! We even got free cookies!

After lunch we went to Dollar General to find something to lube our bikes up with, the rain had washed away any inkling of oil left on our bike chains. While I was in there a young man asked me what I was doing. When I told him what we were doing he asked to take our picture, and write a story about us for his school paper. I obliged him and was happy to do it.

We set up camp shortly thereafter and discovered this state park had a heated showerhouse! PLEASANT SURPRISE, as we were still a little wet from the last night, as well as most of our gear. Gear was hanging from every the trees around us like Christmas tree ornaments in order to get it all to dry out.

I was attempting to build a fire with very wet supplies, when someone pulled up in a truck. This person turned out to be a man named Douglas, he was a deputy sherriff and investigator. He said that he came down to make sure all the campers were safe. Then he offered to bring us seasoned and dry firewood! I accepted! He returned with the wood shortly and we had ourselves a nice hot campfire to dry our things around. Thanks Douglas! We slept very comfortably that night.

This morning we packed up and went over to the lookout tower to snap a few pictures before heading out.

We are trying to beat this snow they say is coming!

more pictures soon

on the other side of town

2011-01-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

Hi all, Steve and I have had a nice relaxed day today, we have been exploring the area around the hostel on foot today. We went up to this coffee etc. shop called Otherlands, what a cool place! I had some tea, while Steve perused the shop and then stared out the window.

After we left there we went over to Xanadu music and books to look at the cigar box guitars the owner makes. his name is Johnny Lowe, and his guitars are called Lowebows. He constructs them a little differently than I expected, nevertheless they play wonderfully, price---$500 and up! The man in the shop wasn't the owner, but we had a lengthy conversation about the blues and the real musicians that play the blues.

We came back to the hostel and cooked some spaghetti, which Steve ate without complaining, and then went down to the bike shop in the basement. The volunteers were teaching the kids how to run cables on bikes that day. The program seems great! The kids get to learn to work on bikes and earn the bike they work on in the process. The man in charge, Kyle, helped me true up my rear wheel. Now it is as good as new! Thank you sir!

Tomorrow Mississippi! NO RAIN!!!!!!!

Memphis mayhem

2011-01-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

Me and Steve found a great little hostel to stay at in Memphis called the Pilgrim House Hostel, its cheap and its filled with interesting people like Ed, he's running around the country seeing as much as he can before his visa runs out and he has to return to Australia. This place is great, There is even a bike shop in the basement!Revolutions Bike Co-op

This is the RA, Megan, she's very pleasant!

We took showers and then headed out to eat. Since we didn't know where to go we walked around a little, before just asking a couple of people on the street. Sarah and Emma were more than helpful to us, they actually accompanied us to the restaurant. It was nice to have some company, we talked for hours I believe. Thank you girls so much for the hospitality! I forgot to get a picture of you, so if either one of you read this before we leave tomorrow(monday), get a hold of me(Luke 636 232 3133).

There is a guy down the street that makes cigar box guitars. He owns a bookshop too, I need to go check that place out for sure!Xanadu Music and Books

More to come soon! I am off to explore!

ride the night!

2011-01-15T16:15:00.000-08:00

Well, our stay in Ripley was short lived. We decided that we had the legs to just travel to Memphis. So essentially we crossed the entire state of Tennessee in a day. The roads were nice and clear of cars and wind so we made pretty good time. We got to Meeman-Shelby SP some time after midnight and set up our tent and went right to sleep. By the time we were at the state park we were dead tired so it was nice to lay down. 12 hours on the bike will make you start hallucinating!

This morning, or noon actually, we packed up and headed into the city. We stopped at the Shelby Forest General store and ate. The store is really old and full of character. The people were nice too!

After we left the general store we made about three wrong turns trying to get out of Shelby Forest but we finally made it into northern Memphis. There is a beautiful development on the bank of the Mississippi in that part of town, the homes are amazing! We stopped to take the obligatory picture at The Pyramid and then headed to Beale street. I was hoping to hear from someone from Couchsurfing.com, but no replies yet, so looks like we will be heading to T.O. Fuller SP just outside Memphis. Scratch that, a police officer said that T.O. Fuller is a REALLY Bad neighborhood. Maybe Tunica? I don't know, but thats the adventure!

Tomorrow we enter Mississippi, I hope my patellar tendonitis calms down because we have some ground to cover!

dragging the anchor

2011-01-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

Well we stayed on the banks of Reelfoot Lake last night in a little cabin. It looks like a pretty place, with a lot of cypress trees and such, I bet it would be nice in the summer.The lake was created by that big earthquake in New Madrid in the 1800's We saw a guy loading up one of those swamp boats with the big fan on the back for a propeller, I guess he was skimming across the ice? Not much action other than that last night. Steve got his Mandolin tuned up so we can start playing music together. Pretty chill day and night.

Today we woke up early and I thought we would be getting an early start but I noticed a few spokes on my rear wheel had become completely loose, so I had to deal with that:(. The wheel is still not 100% but it will get me to Memphis where I will have it trued at a shop. When we finally got on the road the wind was blowing fiercely in our faces, and pretty much did that all day. 65 miles @ no better than 7 or 8 miles an hour! Also, northwestern Tennessee in the winter is a land of complete desolation, we barely saw a car. THERE IS NOTHING OUT THERE! We kept our spirits up nonetheless and made our destination( relatively). I had my first encounter with the invasive nemesis called Kudzu today. It literally has take over the hillsides around here and since it is winter and it is dormant all the hillsides look fuzzy because they are covered in these vines and nothing else.
Tomorrow its Memphis!

With the wind at our backs

2011-01-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

We left Kenny's camper and headed toward Big Oak Tree SP on Wednesday morning. The temperature was frigid but we were traveling with the wind so it wasn't too bad. The land really flattened out here to so it made traveling much easier. Our average speed went up considerably as well as the ease of pedaling the bike. We were riding through farmland. We came upon a farm where a few horses saw us and ran over to greet us so we stopped to say hello. The turkeys and a rooster followed the horses over to say hello as well.

When we got to Big Oak we went into the interpretive center to warm up and look at the displays. The big oak fell a few years ago due to an ice storm but it still lays there. The tree cookie in the interpretive center was from the original tree that the park was named after. It had to be taken down in the 30's. That must have been a huge tree, it was over 400 years old!

After we warmed up we went over to the lake where old Bald Cypress trees grow. I found it pretty interesting to see swampland in Missouri.

A few miles down the road we came to the Dorena- Hickman ferry and the end of Missouri. We had to wait on the ferry and it was pretty cold just standing there but we did fine. I was craving a Coke and low and behold there was a Coke machine on the Ferry! When we got into Kentucky we went into town and found out that it was a pretty deserted place, kind of creepy and desolate. With that in mind we decided to go into Tennessee to the nearest larger town. Union city is a pretty nice place and everyone here seems to have a southern accent so we can tell we are far away from home. Steve and I decided to stay in a hotel and take showers and do laundry. Definitely a needed stop. we feel great!

actually, I'm sweating!

2011-01-12T22:15:00.000-08:00

We saw some pretty cool things on the way to Trail of Tears State Park on Monday. We ate at a little restaurant in Fruitland called the Pie Bird Cafe, It looks like a shed someone would have in their back yard. The cafe was great they had awesome food and pies that looked phenomenal .I recommend it if you are near Cape Girardeau and are hungry. Then we headed down the road for our last jaunt to the state park. Along the way we saw a container home that was still under construction. Seeing that out in rural Missouri was a little out of place which made it all the more cool.

A few miles down the road we saw a few chicken. Actually it was the most chickens I've ever seen. The Newfoundlands that were guarding the chickens made it even better!

We finally made it to Trail of Tears SP and we utilized the sign and my superior skills in making a camera tripod out of whatever I have(MACGYVER) to take a picture displaying our accomplishment. There was no one else at the campsites, and I think they were closed due to the road closed signs but we camped anyway! We piled up a bunch of leaves, something I am very practiced at, and set up the tent over it. It made a nice mattress. Fiedler lives in Cape so he stopped by to bring us gatorade and bananas and hung out for quite a while. Thanks Fiedler! It snowed that night about 3 inches that night but decided to wait until we were in our tents. We woke up the next morning and were afraid to look outside the tent, but it turned out to not be so bad. When we got to Cape we went to Cape Bicycle shop to have my rear derailleur adjusted. One of the guys there saw my cigar box guitar and really liked it. He noticed that I was missing a string on it and gave me the one I needed of his own guitar. Very cool!
That night we went to McDonald's to warm up and use the wifi and electricity. When we left for the campsite for the night we were surprised to see a man pull over and get out of his truck. The man turns out to be one of Steve's dad's friends named Kenny. He said that we could stay in his camper that night. When we got there the campers heater was already on and the camper was warm! How very nice of this man! We enjoyed the accommodations very much!

to the end of Missouri...Cheers!

2011-01-11T17:16:00.000-08:00

Steve and I started our trip on Sunday morning. It was about 14 degrees with wind coming from the south( the direction we were headed). My bike wiggled like a bowl of jello, probably due to the extreme load I have on it with all of my things. Between ditching equipment and rearranging the loads, I got the bike to calm down and we made it to Ste. Gen. where we had a wonderful late lunch thanks to the Elliott family.

When we got to St. Mary, MO it was almost dark so we decided to find a place to stay. Steve's dad Tom owns a lot there so we figured we would see if we could camp there. When we showed up and asked the guy who was there where the lot was and told him we were going to camp on it, he seemed okay with it, but he really was an asshole. He asked to talk to Tom on the phone, so we let him, and thats when he got angry and was yelling at Tom over the phone. I asked him to give us the phone back and forget about it, we would just find a new place to stay. He wouldn't give it up and I almost had to take it from the bastard, but his wife saved him and made him give it up. After that we went over to Kaskaskia because a sign said there was a state park over there but I couldn't find one after 5 miles of riding so we decided to turn around and Head for Perryville. By the way Kaskaskia at night in the winter is a miserably dreadful and creepy place, so I am kind of glad we didn't camp there.

After we backtracked from Kaskaskia back to St.Mary we stopped to warm up and eat something at a little quick shop. The owner there showed us good hospitality and welcomed us to sit and eat. She also asked us to sign her journal of cyclists that have passed through and give a little description of our plans and where we were from. So Steve and I looked through it and there were hundreds of signatures from people from all over going all over. We signed it and then packed up to leave. On our way out she told us that she has seen a lot of cyclists pass through but never in January.

So we headed down the road toward Perryville, it was pretty dark and we were pretty tired but the road was almost deserted and we felt pretty good about making it at our own pace. Then we got some good news. Steve's got a Great uncle that lives about 6 or 7 miles down the road and he welcomed us to stay the night.

He didn't really know either one of us but he welcomed us in nonetheless. We chatted a while and he gave us some homemade concord grape wine (it was delicious). he showed us the basement where we would sleep and we went straight to sleep. The next morning he woke us with coffee and cookies, we chatted a bit more, and when it was light enough to see we said our good-byes and were off down the road. I regret not getting a picture with the fellow, he was a swell guy and as hospitable as a person could be.

thats all for now, Luke